It Sounds a Lot Like Supernatural May End Once It Hits 300 Episodes

Updated on Sep 9, 2016 at 11:05 PM

Supernatural has been on the air for over a decade, and over the course of its 11 seasons (shout-out to season 12, coming up in October!), stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles have been asked a lot about when the end may come. Back in March, they teased that whenever the series finale is, it'll probably be bleak and ambiguous. In Entertainment Weekly's new cover story, the boys spilled even more about their plans for the future, and we're reading way too far into it.

Three-hundred is the magic number: Ackles likens the long-running series to a marathon and said "300's a good number to work for." Padalecki backed him up, saying he and his onscreen brother would be "bummed" if they didn't make it to 300. "When we get to 300, I think Ackles and I will think it might be time to say bye," he said. "There's a chance that changes, but we certainly do not take it for granted that we're going to make it to 300."
A shortened 14th season is possible: There are currently 241 episodes of Supernatural, and the 300-episode mark would come halfway through season 14. According to executive producer Bob Singer, they've discussed doing a short season to end exactly with 300 episodes. "We talked about wanting to be able to know when our end was," Singer said. "And if it was to be, let's say, 300 episodes, we could tell a 13-episode story. I think it would be bad for this show to just ride off in the sunset without a finale. I think we've earned that. I don't know what that finale is, but we'd certainly like to do one."
There's still a chance it could end earlier: "I feel like if I ever show up to set and I feel like I don't care, or if I feel like he doesn't care, then that's the canary leaving the mine," Ackles said. "To this day, I have not really ever sensed that from myself or him . . . They're paying us to bring that little bit of magic to what they wrote, and I still feel that magic today. The day that I don't feel that magic will be a very sad day, and I hope that day never comes. I'd like to get to 300 before that day comes."